List finder



H. L. NEILSEN LIST FINDER m, fi, we

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 24, 1964 H. L. NEILSEN Dec. H66

LIST FINDER Filed Nov. 24, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. fi W6 H. NEILSEN LIST FINDER 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 24, 1964 2 .......mnnnunuuilliiiii Ill INVENTOR.

All "will L. All! United States Patent 3,289,335 LIST FINDER Hildaur L. N eilsen, 2 Juniper St., Metuchen, NJ. Filed Nov. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 413,515 10 Claims. (Cl. 40104) This invention relates to list finder devices wherein are contained plural cards bearing lists of (for example) names and telephone numbers; and wherein the device may be readily opened to bring into view items listed upon any selected one of the cards.

An important object of the invention is the provision of such a device having simplified operation means permitting it to be opened in a single manual operation rather than by plural operations as with most prior list finders.

Another important object is the provision, in the device, le means for closing it after reference to a list rem.

er objects are the provision, in the device, of means for carrying a supply of scratch paper and means for carrying a writing instrument.

It is also an object to provide such a device which is relatively simple in structure and capable of being economically manufactured.

The foregoing and other objects are accomplished by the present invention of which a device according to a preferred embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings without, however, limiting the invention to that embodiment.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective, front view of the lastmentioned device.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device.

FIG. 3 is a front-to-back, vertical sectional view, substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 1; the device being shown in its normal or closed condition.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view differing from FIG. 3 only in showing the device in open condition in which the user may view a selected list card and has access to scratch paper carried in the device.

FIG. 5 is a side-to-side, almost vertical sectional view, substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3, looking toward the back of the device.

FIG. 6 is a side-to-side, almost vertical sectional view, substantially on the line 66 of FIG. 3 (at the same plane as line 5-5 of the latter figure) looking toward the front of the device.

FIG. 7 is a side-to-side, almost vertical sectional view, substantially on the irregular line 7-7 of FIG. 4.

The illustrated list finder comprises a generally upright box-like stand 10 having a base 12, back wall 14, side walls 16, 18, front wall 20, and top 22, all rigidly adjoined to constitute the stand as a rigid holder or support for certain operating parts of the device.

The principal operating parts of the device are a front cover 24, a cover-closing slide element 26, a heavy-wire yoke 27 operative between the cover 24 and the slide element 26 to cause the two latter parts to cooperate, and a plurality of list cards 28.

The cover 24, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, extends substantially from side wall 16 to side wall 18 but slightly clear of these walls to permit the cover to be pivotally actuated as hereinafter explained. The cover is rectangular and is of flat material except that it is formed with rigidly integral lugs 30 on its inner face, at its opposite bottom corners, and with an outwardly extending flange 32 along its top edge.

The lugs 30 are oppositely similar and have integral pivot projections 34 extending within flanged bearing bushings 35a which are fitted in recesses 35 in the walls 16, 18. The cover 24 pivots on projections 34 between its closed position of FIG. 3 and its open position of FIG. 4. Concentrically with the pivot projections 34, the lugs 30 are formed with directly opposite, inwardly extending arcuate flanges 36 constituting card-holding tracks as hereinafter explained.

It may be observed from FIGS. 3 and 4 that the rigid front wall 20, at its lower edge, terminates at a distance from the base 12 thereby providing a free space into which, as observable from FIG. 4, the lower part of the cover 24 extends in the latters open position. When the cover 24 is in its normal or closed position, as in FIG. 3, it causes all the list cards 28 to be substantially held in face-to-face upright positions between the cover and the front wall 20.

As illustrated, the list finder is provided with a stack of twelve list cards 28 which differ from each other only in that the second and successive cards, considered from the front toward the back of the device, have progressively greater parts of their top margins cut away to provide exposed, rearwardly facing, indexing areas 38 at a horizontal succession of different points along the upper margin of the stack of list cards. These cards may be suitably ruled or printed on the fronts and backs thereof, in a manner not shown, for guidance of the user in entering typed or handwritten listings thereon.

The cards 28 are all similarly formed with notches 40 at opposite side edges and toward and equidistant from the bottom edges of the cards. The cards, normally being flexible, may be bent momentarily during their insertion in the device to cause the notches 40 to engage the tracks 36 upon which the cards are held as may best be understood from 4 FIGS. 3-6. When the device is closed, the stack of cards is upright but tilted rearwardly and rests by gravity against the rigid front wall 20. Additionally, the cards are held magnetically in closed posi tions as hereinafter explained. Also, in closed condition of the device, the cover 24 also tilts rearwardly and rests against the card stack. It may be seen from FIG. 3, that the side wall 16 encompasses a front-to-back area of the device within which the cards 28 and the cover 24 are disposed when the device is closed. The same is, of course, true of the side wall 18.

The front margin 22a of the top 22 of the stand overhangs the top edge of the adjoined front wall 20 and this overhang, as best seen in FIG. 2, progressively widens from little or no width, toward the left side of the device, to a substantial width, toward the right side of the device, approximating the thickness of the stack of cards 28. Thus, the front edge of the stands top 22 is slightly angular relatively to the front wall 20 so that said front edge approximately parallels a projected straight, horizontal line extending through the centers of the indexing areas 38 of all the cards 28, whereby said front edge extends close to the said indexing areas of all said cards.

An elongate magnet in the form of a strip 4'2 is cemented or otherwise fixed to the underside of the overhang 22a and to the adjacent front face of the front wall 20 in parallelism with the front edge of said overhang and with the magnets front face in the same, almost vertical plane, as said front edge. Thus, the front face of the magnet lies close to the indexing areas 38 of the cards 28. A small, thin piece of magnetic metal 44 is fixed by any suitable means to each rearwardly facing indexing area 38 of the cards 28. For convenient afiixation of the magnetic metal pieces to the cards, said pieces may be in the form of rather broad-faced staples having prongs 44a which, with suitable stapling apparatus, may be punched through and clinched over a face of a card as may be understood from FIG. 5. The magnetic attraction of the metal pieces 44 on the cards 28 to the magnet 42 serves to hold the cards 3 releasably in their upright positions when the device is closed as in FIGS. 1-3.

A front marginal portion of the top 22 of the stand is formed with a series of forwardly extending finger-receptive grooves 46 which extend uninterruptedly to the front edge of the overhang 22a of the stands top, these grooves being in the same number as and in alignment with the indexing areas 38 of the cards. There is a separate groove 46 for each of the list cards 28 and the bottoms of the grooves, at their front ends, are at a lower level than the top edges of said cards at their indexing areas 38. Thus, a user of the device, with his finger in a groove 4-6 corresponding to a selected list card, as indicated in chain lines in FIG. 3, may pull forwardly the selected card together with the cover 24 and all cards disposed between the cover and the selected card. This manual pull predominates the magnetic force theretofore holding the selected card, and those forwardly of the selected card, in upright position, causing the pulled cards and cover to pivot forwardly substantially beyond a vertical attitude, and then to move downwardly by gravity to bring the device to its open condition as in FIG. 4. The list cards 28 located rearwardly of the pulled card remain held by the magnet 42 in upright position. Thus, referring again to FIG. 4, the user may view items entered on the back of a list card marked 28a and on the front of a list card marked 28b.

After having observed all desired information from a list card thus exposed to View, the user may manually engage the cover 24 to swing it upwardly with the list cards then resting thereon, in order to restore the device to its closed condition. The device, however, includes closing means by means of which it may more easily be closed.

The mentioned closing means comprise the cover-closing slide element 26 which is in the form of an open top box which is guided for almost vertical sliding between pairs of parallel guide members 48 extending inwardly, rigidly from the side walls 16, 18. The element 26, throughout the greater part of its width and toward one of its sides, extends upwardly into and is slidable in a slot 50 in the devices top 22.

A central portion 27a of the wire yoke 27 seats underneath a lug 52 integral with the front face of the slide element 26 and is retained thereunder by an integral overhanging lip 52a of said lug. Opposite extremities 27b of the wire yoke extend pivotally into eccentrically located accommodating recesses 54 in the lugs 30.

When the device is closed, as in FIG. 3, the yoke 27 supports the slide element 26 in its lowermost position with its upper limits within the slot 50 and preferably slightly below the top surface of the top 22. In that condition of the device, the recesses 54 and the yokes extremities 27b therein are at their lowest point in any turning movement of the lugs 30.

When the device is manually opened in the manner already explained, the turning of the lugs 30 with the opening pivoting movement of the cover 24 causes the wire yoke 27 to be pushed upwardly to correspondingly push the slide element 26 upwardly to project substantially above the top of the device as in FIG. 4.

In order to close the device after having observed a list card therein, it is only necessary to press the slide element down manually into the stand 10, thereby causing the yoke 27 to push the lower end of the cover downwardly about the pivoting axis of the projections 34 to rotate the cover, with any list cards then resting thereon, from their open positions of FIG. 4 to their closed positions of FIG. 3.

The slide element 26 may be solid rather than an open top box as shown; but, in box form it may hold plural sheets 56 of scratch paper or equivalent scratch cards. The scratch paper is enclosed within the device when the latter is closed but projects substantially above the device when the latter is open. Ordinarily, it would be when the device is open that a user would desire to remove a sheet of scratch paper or a scratch card to take written note of information obtained from one of the list cards. At that time the scratch paper or card may be easily removed from the slide element 26; the top of the latter preferably being cut down or recessed as at 26a for that purpose.

In crosswise alignment with .the slot 50, a pencilreceiving aperture 58 is provided in the top wall 22, serving to receive and vertically guide therein a pencil, pen or equivalent writing instrument 60 with one end of the latter resting on an inside bottom wall surface of the slide element 26. Thus, while the writing instrument, of a suitable length, may be almost completely enclosed within the stand 10 when the device is closed, the slide element 26 pushes the pencil upwardly when the device is opened so that the pencil may easily be removed by the user for use at that time.

It should be observed that the device is opened by a single operation, the forward movement of the users finger in one of the grooves 46, rather than by plural operations as with many prior list finders. Also, the grooves 46 afford a substantial measure of assurance against accidental opening of the device at a wrong or undesired list card, something which frequently occurs with prior list finders.

It will be recognized that the present inventive concepts may be utilized in other ways than herein specifically illustrated without, however, departing from the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A list finder comprising support means, a stack of list cards having lower marginal portions thereof in pivotal engagement with said support means, a back rest member against which said stack rests with the cards of the stack in an upright position, magnetic means effective between said back rest and cards to hold the latter releasably against movement forwardly away from the back rest, each of said cards having an upper marginal, actuating portion, separately engageable manually, enabling a selected list card to be manually pulled forwardly from said back rest member, to cause the selected card and any card forwardly thereof to pivot forwardly and downwardly, to open surfaces of the selected card and a succeeding one of the cards to view; the list finder further comprising a cover disposed forwardly of all list cards of said stack, and pivotally mounted for pivotal movement, through an area forward of said back rest member, about an axis adjacent to a bottom margin of the cover and bottom margins of said list cards, a manually operable, cover-closing slide element guided for sliding in an approximately vertical plane, and a motiontransmitting member interacting between said slide element and said cover, eccentrically with reference to the covers said axis, to pivot the cover and all list cards resting thereon from an open position to an upright closed position.

2. A list finder according to claim 1, said slide element being slidable downwardly to pivot the cover to closed position and constituting an open-topped box for carrying scratch paper or the like therein; the top of said box being clear of said support means when the cover is in open position, to afford access to paper or the like carried in the box.

3. A list finder according to claim 1, said motiontransmitting member comprising a stiff-wire yoke, a central portion of which is in operative engagement with said slide element, and operative extremities of which are in pivotal engagement with integral lugs located at opposite bottom corners of the cover.

4. A list finder according to claim 1, further comprising a stand with which the stack of cards is pivotally associated, said stand having a top formed with a slot therein within which said slide element slides to extend above the level of said top when the cover is in open position, said top being formed with a writing-instrument receiving aperture and said slide element having a bottom wall surface upon which an uprightly disposed writing instrument is supported while extending upwardly into said aperture; the slide element thereby being adapted to push the writing instrument upwardly to project above said top in position readily accessible to the user of the list finder.

5. A list finder comprising support means, a stack of list cards pivotally supported at their lower edges in upright, closed positions on said support means, a back rest against which said cards rest at a sufiicient angle from perpendicularity to cause them to stand yieldably in their upright, closed positions, said support means including a cover disposed forwardly of all the list cards and pivotally mounted for pivotal movement, through an area forward of said cards, about an axis adjacent and parallel to the bottom margins of the cover and of said cards, between an open, more or less horizontal position and a closed upright position in which it leans against said cards and toward said back rest, a manually operable, cover-closing slide element guided for sliding in an approximately vertical plane, and a motion-transmitting member coacting between said slide element and said cover to pivot the latter and all list cards resting thereon from an open position to an upright closed position; each of said cards having an upper marginal, actuating portion, separately engageable manually, enabling a selected list card to be manually pulled forwardly from said back rest, to cause the selected card and the cards forwardly thereof to pivot forwardly and downwardly, to open surfaces of the selected card and a succeeding one of the cards to view.

6. A list finder according to claim 5, said slide element being slidable downwardly to pivot the cover to closed position and constituting an open-topped box for carrying scratch paper or the like therein; the top of said box being clear of said support means when the cover is in open position, to afford access to paper or the like carried in the box.

7. A list finder according to claim 5, said motiontransmitting member comprising a stilt-wire yoke, a central portion of which is in operative engagement with said slide element, and operative extremities of which 6 are in pivotal engagement with integral. lugs located at opposite bottom corners of the cover.

8. A list finder according to claim 5, further comprising a stand with which the stack of cards is pivotally associated, said stand having a top formed with a slot therein Within which said slide element slides to extend above the level of said top when the cover is in open position, said top being formed with a writing-instrument receiving aperture and said slide element having a bottom wall surface upon which an uprightly disposed writing instrument is supported while extending upwardly into said aperture; the slide element thereby being adapted to push the writing instrument upwardly to project above said top in position readily accessible to the user of the list finder.

9. A list finder comprising support means, a stack of normally upright list cards having lower marginal portions thereof in pivotal engagement with said support means and said cards being formed with finger-engageable actuating portions arranged in a series along top margins of the cards, and a back rest member against which said stack rests with the cards of the stack in their normally upright positions; said back rest member having a top portion, extending horizontally in back of and from side-to-side of said stack at a level below and adjacent to the top edges of the cards, and said top portion of the back rest member being provided with a series of finger guiding means serially aligned with said actuating portions for facilitating engagement of said actuating portions by a users finger to angularly separate adjacent cards of the stack.

10. A list finder according to claim 9, said finger guiding means being finger-receptive grooves.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,524,704 10/1950 Henderson -104 2,825,160 3/1958 Mellor 40-10 2,849,815 9/1958 Neilsen 40--104 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. J. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A LIST FINDER COMPRISING SUPPORT MEANS, A STACK OF LIST CARDS HAVING LOWER MARGINAL PORTIONS THEREOF IN PIVOTAL ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SUPPORT MEANS, A BACK REST MEMBER AGAINST WHICH SAID STACK RESTS WITH THE CARDS OF THE STACK IN AN UPRIGHT POSITION, MAGNETIC MEANS EFFECTIVE BETWEEN SAID BACK REST AND CARDS TO HOLD THE LATTER RELEASABLY AGAINST MOVEMENT FORWARDLY AWAY FROM THE BACK REST, EACH OF SAID CARDS HAVING AN UPPER MARGINAL, ACTUATING PORTION, SEPARATELY ENGAGEABLE MANUALLY, ENABLING A SELECTED LIST CARD TO BE MANUALLY PULLED FORWARDLY FROM SAID BACK REST MEMBER, TO CAUSE THE SELECTED CARD AND ANY CARD FORWARDLY THEREOF TO PIVOT FORWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY, TO OPEN SURFACES OF THE SELECTED CARD AND A SUCCEEDING ONE OF THE CARDS TO VIEW; THE LIST FINDER FURTHER COMPRISING A COVER DISPOSED MOUNTED FOR PIVOTAL CARDS OF SAID STACK, AND PIVOTALLY MOUNTED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT, THROUGH AN AREA FORWARD OF SAID BACK REST MEMBER, ABOUT AN AXIS ADJACENT TO A BOTTOM MARGIN OF THE COVER AND BOTTOM MARGINS OF SAID LIST CARDS, A MANUALLY OPERABLE, COVER-CLOSING SLIDE ELEMENT GUIDED FOR SLIDING IN AN APPROXIMATELY VERTICAL PLANE, AND A MOTIONTRANSMITTING MEMBER INTERACTING BETWEEN SAID SLIDE ELEMENT AND SAID COVER, ECCENTRICALLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE COVER''S SAID AXIS, TO PIVOT THE COVER AND ALL LIST CARDS RESTING THEREON FROM AN OPEN POSITION TO AN UPRIGHT CLOSED POSITION. 